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Many people have longed for a fish that eats cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae) in the freshwater aquarium. And although the Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus siamensis, will demolish hair algae ravenously (as mine did when I bought them for that purpose), the jury is still out as to whether SAEs will touch cyanobacteria.

However, I picked up a back issue of Practical Fishkeeping (February 2004 edition). This magazine carries a section in its pages called Interesting Imports, in which it reveals some of the more unusual fish species discovered by the magazine's journalists during retail outlet trawls. And, in this edition of the magazine, one of the fish species featured is cited as being a consumer of cyanobacteria!

Before you all rush out to buy them, however, the bad news is that they are usually imported 'by mistake', passed over in favour of much more marketable fishes, and the ones discovered by Practical Fishkeeping were accidental imports. However, this means that they were also cheap - 2 each.

The fish in question rejoices in the wonderful scientific name of Liniparhomaloptera disparis disparis. It is one of the Hillstream Loaches of the Family Balitoridae (formerly Homalopteridae), and the photograph shows a cute-looking little loach that would probably win fans on the basis of its facial appeal alone, little sad puppy eyes looking upwards and a mouthful of barbels contriving to make the fish look as if it's begging to be petted! The body colour is a variable brown mottling on a beige background, which sounds pretty dull when just stated in words, but which is actually surprisingly attractive to look at in the photo. According to the information panel accompanying the photo, this species reaches a maximum length of 8 cm, making it a good choice for the smaller aquarium, and although most specimes originate from China, it is also reputed to live in Vietnamese waters. In fact, the most likely collection site is White Cloud Mountain, Guangzhou Province - yes, the very same White Cloud Mountain that is the home of the White Cloud Mountain Minnow, Tanichthys albonubes, one of the perennial favourites of the aquarium trade.

Consequently, these hillstream loaches are likely to prefer cooler conditions when first imported, but, the good news for the future is that the breeding cycle of these fishes has been scientifically documented, and it has also spawned in captivity! Consequently, tank bred specimens are likely to acclimatise to a wider range of aquarium conditions once available, and although the price is dirt cheap currently, once news spreads of their cyanobacteria eating prowess, chances are that figure will rise. A future investment opportunity, perchance?

Now, one problem that the aquarist will face (apart from obtaining them) is the confusion over identity. The above scientific name is the correct one, but expect to see it misspelled, expect to see the fishes labelled under the old and now defunct generic name of Homaloptera, or even worse, mis-identified as a different species (Practical Fishkeeping lamented that one book mis-identified this fish as Homaloptera zollingeri). However, if those hurdles can be overcome, then this species will adapt to the aquarium, and rather well. Given its origins, wild caught specimens should be kept at no higher than 22C, and preferably around 18C to begin with, and they will require good oxygenation levels. A long shallow aquarium, set up with a filtration system providing strong currents, with a bed of rounded gravel and numerous rounded rocks of assorted sizes will suit this species well, and it conditions are to its liking, it will start breeding. The fish digs a depression in the gravel, using a large rock to shelter its eggs and fry from the current, so provision of suitable rocks will go a long way toward making it feel at home.

Given the nature of their habitat in the wild, these loaches are surprisingly sedentary, and also moderately gregarious: several will live together quite happily, but won't actually shoal or group together in the manner of Corydoras catfishes, for example - rather, they will intermittently 'hang out' with each other, not necessarily taking much notice of each other, but thankfully showing no signs of aggression, which means that they will present fewer problems in captivity than some other loaches. Their small size and current cheap purchase price means that buying a group of 8 or 12 to form a breeding colony nucleus won't break the bank, and won't require the sudden purchase of a large aquarium to house them. As to their compatibility with other aquarium fish species, this remains to be put to the test, though they are not anticipated to cause problems from their side of the fence, so to speak: it is considered at this time more likely to be unwelcome attention from other fishes spoiling the loaches' peaceful life that awaits documentation.

So, an opportunity awaits whoever can find them - a small, peaceful, moderately gregarious and cute-faced loach that in time, once a decent tank-bred population is available, will not only be eminently more suitable for most aquaria than Clown Loaches (the only minus point being that their colours don't match the brilliance of the Clown Loach) but which will provide into the bargain a cynaobacteria clean-up service. What more could you ask for?



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002